Graham Alexander praises nerve of Bradford after penalties win over Burnley

Bradford manager Graham Alexander praised his side for keeping their nerve to beat Burnley 4-2 on penalties after the second-round tie had finished goalless.

Jon McCracken saved from Jacob Bruun Larsen and Zeki Amdouni hit the post in the shoot-out. Bradford scored all four spot-kicks with Adam Phillips clinching the victory.

Alexander said: “People talk about penalties as a lottery but I don’t believe that. It’s a game of skill and I thought the technique was excellent.

“We were much better in the second half in the duels and the competitive element. I don’t think we got beaten in many one-v-ones but we still had to work exceptionally hard to get to penalties.

“We couldn’t just sit back and let them come at us at will. We certainly competed at a high level.”

Burnley were the more dangerous side in the first half with McCracken tipping over from Connor Roberts.

But Bradford picked up after the break as Phillips forced a diving save from Gregoire Coudert and Josh Laurent clearing Macaulay Gillesphey’s header off the line.

Burnley head coach Nicky Hayen said: “Of course, we’re very disappointed with the result. All the credit is for Bradford, I think they played on their qualities.

“We had 70 per cent of the ball but at the end, the most important is that you score goals. You can be in the box, but if you’re not clinical enough and our decision-making is not the best decision, then you struggle.

“Then you keep the opponent in the game, you give them oxygen as long as the game lasts. Even after 60 minutes, we started to be more sloppy.”